Assam men abducted in Chennai

- Rs 3 lakh ransom sought

KONGKON K. BORA

Anuj Chetia

Sivasagar, April 19: Two youths from Assam, working in Chennai, have been allegedly abducted from the Tamil Nadu capital, states an FIR filed last night by the brother of one of the youths. The abductors have allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh ransom.

The FIR, filed at Sonari police station by Ratul Chetia, says his brother Anuj, 28, and his roommate Jintu Saikia, 26, were abducted on Wednesday night.

“Anuj was abducted at 10pm on Wednesday while going to his rented room from office, a distance of about a kilometre. At the same time, the abductors called Jintu on his mobile and tricked him to come outside his room by saying that Anuj had met with an accident. When he stepped outside, they abducted him,” Ratul told The Telegraph, adding that the duo were whisked away in a vehicle.

Both Anuj, a resident of Kanubari Balijan Grant under Sonari police station in Charaideo subdivision of Sivasagar district, and Jintu, a resident of Kakopathar in Tinsukia district, work with Prasad Organics Pvt Ltd, a chemical company located at Kumaran Nagar in Chennai. Both hail from economically weak families, sources said.

Anuj has been working with the company for four years and Jintu for about a year. The company has filed an FIR in Chennai, Ratul said.

He said Anuj had called home from his office around 9pm on Wednesday. “The conversation was usual and he showed no signs of panic. We got information about his abduction from Jintu’s brother, Sunit, who was then in Chennai, after which we filed the FIR.” Sunit works in Hyderabad and was visiting Jintu.

Charaideo sub-divisional police officer Prakash Sonowal said they filed a general diary at the police station after the FIR was filed. “We have informed Chennai police about the abduction by wireless message, requesting them to take up the matter,” he said.

Ratul claimed that the abductors have demanded a ransom of Rs 3 lakh. “Around half-an-hour after Jintu was kidnapped, the abductors called on his mobile, which he had left in his room, and demanded a ransom of Rs 3 lakh for the duo’s release. The phone was picked up by Sunit,” Ratul said. He added that nothing has been heard from the abductors after the call.

Sunit told this correspondent that Chennai police had managed to trace the call made on Jintu’s cell. “They are hopeful of an early breakthrough,” he said.